Life In 19x19

The out-of-print "Killer of Go" by Sakata Eio (published by Yutopian) is now available in SmartGo Books. It's a classic text on the theme of killing stones, including examples, advice, game analysis, killing techniques, and discussions on joseki and shape. The SmartGo Books edition adds twenty-seven diagrams to replace long sequences of letters that were hard to follow in the original text.

Another book added today is "Single Digit Kyu Game Commentaries" by Yuan Zhou (published by Slate & Shell). His commentaries on six games played by single-digit kyu players point out and explain both mistakes and good moves.

For a complete list of the 20 books now available in the SmartGo Books app, see http://smartgo.com/booklist.htm

Great Addition. Any chance Kato Masao's 'Attack and Kill' will be added sometime?

I'm curious about the future.

Some of the titles are offered at the regular prices of the paper editions. I have come to prefer the ebook format (particularly the SmartGo books) over traditional books for a number of reasons, but looking at my shelves, I'm reminded that books with more timeless themes are meant for a longer period than specific electronic devices, or even types of devices, tend to last.

So, when SmartGo books become available for other platforms (and I use "when" because I just don't see how that could not happen ), will the purchases made now give access to the same content on those other platforms, or would they have to be purchased again?

This wasn't an issue to me as long as there were only a few titles, but now that the library is increasing in size and apparently being embraced by Kiseido too, it's becoming a criterion that may have some impact on the purchase decision. It is the reason why I buy ebook versions of novels from independent ebook stores instead of Apple's, because the latter uses a DRM system that prevents that I can read the books on non-Apple devices -- which isn't relevant right now, but will be in a few years from now.. and Go taught me to "read ahead"!

(This may be better placed in a dedicated thread.)

p2501 wrote:Great Addition. Any chance Kato Masao's 'Attack and Kill' will be added sometime?

There's a chance, but it's complicated by the fact that 'Attack and Kill' is already part of Kiseido Digital Bookshelf (http://www.kiseidodigital.com/kdb.html).

Mivo wrote:Some of the titles are offered at the regular prices of the paper editions.

I think all the prices are substantially lower than the paper editions. Which books do you see priced the same as the paper editions?

Mivo wrote:So, when SmartGo books become available for other platforms (and I use "when" because I just don't see how that could not happen ), will the purchases made now give access to the same content on those other platforms, or would they have to be purchased again?

Good point. My goal would definitely be for purchases to transfer to any hypothetical future platforms, but that may not be a simple issue. For example, consider that Apple does not give developers any customer information. If I had the choice between making the content available on another platform, but existing purchases would not transfer over, and skipping that other platform, what would you want me to choose?

smartgo wrote:If I had the choice between making the content available on another platform, but existing purchases would not transfer over, and skipping that other platform, what would you want me to choose?

Tricky question. I've noticed that some apps have an option to restore previously made in-app purchases. Could this functionality of the store be used to obtain voluntarily provided customer information, or e.g. provide a unique serial code, if SmartGo books became available for other platforms and you and the copyright holders decided to make the books "universal"?

Mivo wrote:I've noticed that some apps have an option to restore previously made in-app purchases.

SmartGo Books does too (tap on the Tools icon in the top left); you can use this to transfer books e.g. from your iPad to your iPhone.

Mivo wrote:Could this functionality of the store be used to obtain voluntarily provided customer information, or e.g. provide a unique serial code, if SmartGo books became available for other platforms and you and the copyright holders decided to make the books "universal"?

Possibly. I'm sure a solution can be found; I'll have to investigate what the possibilities are once this is not hypothetical.

p2501 wrote:
Great Addition. Any chance Kato Masao's 'Attack and Kill' will be added sometime?

There's a chance, but it's complicated by the fact that 'Attack and Kill' is already part of Kiseido Digital Bookshelf (http://www.kiseidodigital.com/kdb.html).

I don't have an iPad and I have a physical copy of the book anyway.. but I would have thought a SmartGo version of "Tesuji and Antisuji" would be popular.

CnP wrote:I would have thought a SmartGo version of "Tesuji and Antisuji" would be popular.

I agree, that's a great book.

Anders,

you probably know that you can now sell the books from outside the app, as long as you sell them from inside as well. In this case, you don't have to give up the 30% on book sales. Also, that allows customers to create an account on your site and access the books on other platforms. My son's done this with a Comixology comic book app; he buys them from the web site, then loads them from his account in the app. That might be a good way go move into the future.

kirkmc wrote:... you can now sell the books from outside the app, as long as you sell them from inside as well. In this case, you don't have to give up the 30% on book sales. Also, that allows customers to create an account on your site and access the books on other platforms. My son's done this with a Comixology comic book app; he buys them from the web site, then loads them from his account in the app. That might be a good way go move into the future.

Yes, glad Apple changed that, that will really help bring it to other platforms. Hope for more changes by the time that becomes an issue.

This is good information, though I now wonder if it may be best to delay purchases until the possibly new, or additional, venues have been explored?

Mivo wrote:This is good information, though I now wonder if it may be best to delay purchases until the possibly new, or additional, venues have been explored?

Please note that this is all a discussion of a future hypothetical situation; it may be a long wait. Just ask those people who have been waiting for the Mac version of SmartGo, for example. It's an issue of limited resources, so things tend to happen much slower than you or I would like.

kirkmc wrote:Anders,

you probably know that you can now sell the books from outside the app, as long as you sell them from inside as well. In this case, you don't have to give up the 30% on book sales. Also, that allows customers to create an account on your site and access the books on other platforms. My son's done this with a Comixology comic book app; he buys them from the web site, then loads them from his account in the app. That might be a good way go move into the future.

Come on, don't blame it on your son! It's okay, I'll admit I use Comixology.

judicata wrote:

kirkmc wrote:Anders,

you probably know that you can now sell the books from outside the app, as long as you sell them from inside as well. In this case, you don't have to give up the 30% on book sales. Also, that allows customers to create an account on your site and access the books on other platforms. My son's done this with a Comixology comic book app; he buys them from the web site, then loads them from his account in the app. That might be a good way go move into the future.

Come on, don't blame it on your son! It's okay, I'll admit I use Comixology.

To be honest, he gave me his credentials, and I installed the app, but I haven't looked at any comics yet.